GOLF
Rashid Khan wins Telangana Open 2026 by three-shot margin, ends seven-year-long title drought
Rashid Khan ended a seven-year wait for victory with a closing five-under 67, winning the INR 1 crore Telangana Open 2026 by three strokes at Vooty Golf County in Vikarabad.
The 35-year-old Delhi golfer (66-67-65-67) finished at 23-under 265 to secure his 15th professional title and 11th victory on the DP World PGTI. He collected INR 15 lakh and moved up to sixth on the 2026 DP World PGTI Order of Merit, taking his season earnings to INR 44,95,509.
Delhi’s Honey Baisoya (72-65-66-65) produced the best final-round score among the leading contenders, making nine birdies and two bogeys in a seven-under 65. He finished runner-up at 20-under 268. Baisoya, winner of the DP World Players Championship at Qutab Golf Course in February, earned INR 10 lakh for his runner-up finish. He now occupies third place in the season rankings with total earnings of INR 51,72,092.
Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat (68-68-68-65), the 2024 DP World PGTI Rankings champion, also closed with a 65 to share third place at 19-under 269 with overnight leader Angad Cheema (70-61-65-73).
– Team Sportstar
Shubhankar, Yuvraj wait to tee off as rain disrupts British Masters
Indian golfers Shubhankar Sharma and Yuvraj Sandhu were forced to wait for their opening rounds as persistent rain and storms severely disrupted the first day of the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry.
With play repeatedly suspended, neither Sharma nor Sandhu had been able to tee off by the time darkness brought an early end to the weather-hit day.
– PTI
Pranavi opens with 69, leads Indian challenge at KPMG Women’s Irish Open
Pranavi Urs made a strong start to the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, carding a three-under 69 to sit inside the top 10 after the opening round, while fellow Indians Diksha Dagar and Tvesa Malik were left battling to make the cut at The K Club here in wet conditions.
Pranavi who has been one of India’s better performers on the Ladies European Tour this season, with a Top-5 at Dutch Ladies and four other Top-20 finishes, produced a steady round in wet conditions at the Palmer South Course.
Starting from the 10th tee, she picked up three birdies on the back stretch on the 10th, 16th and 17th before adding another birdie on the first hole.
Pranavi, a winner last year in a mixed event played alongside men on the IGPL Tour in India, dropped her only shot of the round at the eighth, her penultimate hole, to close with a three-under 69 and put herself in a strong position ahead of the second round.
Diksha, currently 11th on the LET Order of Merit, and Tvesa both carded 74s to be tied 69th and will need better scores in the second round to move safely inside the cut line.
Diksha, who also started from the 10th, had an inconsistent round with two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.
Tvesa matched her 74 after making four birdies, but also gave away four bogeys and a double bogey.
Avani Prashanth had a difficult outing and carded a seven-over 79. She faces an uphill task to make the weekend after the opening round.
Three players — Annabell Fuller, Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist and Czech Republic’s Sara Kouskova — were another shot back at four-under, while Ireland’s Aine Donegan was among those tied ninth on three-under alongside Pranavi.
The 132-player tournament is being played over 72 holes, with the cut to the top 60 professionals and ties after 36 holes. The event carries a prize purse of 450,000 euros.
For Pranavi, the opening 69 provides an encouraging platform as she bids to stay in the leading group and mount a strong challenge over the remaining three rounds.
– PTI
CRICKET
Kerala Cricket League: Azharuddeen’s century steers Alleppey Ripples to win
Mohammed Azharuddeen’s purple patch in Kerala Cricket League (KCL) 2026 continued as another masterful century (112 not out, 60b, 5×4, 10×6) from the opening batter enabled Alleppey Ripples to successfully complete the second highest chase in the history of KCL at the Sports Hub Greenfield stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
On the day he became the first player to score 1000 runs in KCL, Azaruddeen put the Calicut Globstars attack to the sword as Ripples chased the daunting target (214) with three balls to spare. The six-wicket win also took Ripples temporarily to the top of the table with eight points.
Azharuddeen, who has ridden his luck this season, got a reprieve on 62 when Abdul Basith at long off spilled a regulation catch as the batter lofted left-arm spinner M.U. Harikrishnan.
As he did throughout in the tournament, Azharuddeen refused to look a gift horse in the mouth and launched a ferocious counter-attack on the Globstars’ bowlers to race to his hundred off 56 balls. T.K. Akshay (43) and K.A. Arun (31) played the support cast well as Azharuddeen turned on the heat. It was fitting that Azhar finished the match in style with his 10th six over long on off Ibnul Afthab.
Earlier, Calicut Globstars got off to a flying start with Varun Nayanar (62) and Rohan S. Kunnummal (42) putting on 96 for the first wicket in eight overs. Akhil Scaria (72 not out, 38b, 7×4, 4×6) ended the innings in a flourish, smoking Akhil Dev for three sixes to take 26 runs from the final over.
SCORES
Calicut Globstars 213/5 in 20 overs (Akhil Scaria 72 n.o., Varun Nayanar 62, Rohan S.Kunnummal 42, M.P. Sreeroop 2/21) lost to Alleppey Ripples 215/4 in 19.3 overs (Mohammed Azharuddeen 114 n.o., T.K. Akshay 43, K.A. Arun 31, M.U. Harikrishnan 2/35).
Thursday’s match: Trivandrum Royals 183/6 in 20 overs (Vishnu Vinod 59, Krishna Prasad 39, Akhil Scaria 2/21, Akhin Sathar 2/65) bt Calicut Globstars 178/9 in 20 overs (Salman Nizar 50, Abdul Basith 41, K.S. Aravind 36, M.Nikhil 4/30, Rahul Chandran 2/45).
– M.R. Praveen Chandran
BADMINTON
Unseeded Rishika storms into India Junior International GP badminton semis
Unseeded Rishika Nandi upset the third seeded Disha Santosh 21-16, 21-18 to storm into the girls’ singles semifinals of the India Junior International Grand Prix badminton tournament in Pune on Friday.
Thailand’s Pattanun Thiannaparpornchok, Gatha Suryawanshi, and second seeded Ishita Negi were the other girls to make it to the last four stage.
In the boys’ singles, top seeded Dev Ruparelia, Jagsher Singh Khangurra, seventh seed Pranav Manjunath and 16th seeded Nishchal Chand made it to the semifinals with contrasting wins.
– PTI
SQUASH
Velavan Senthilkumar in Budapest Open squash final
Velavan Senthilkumar will take on local favourite Balazs Farkas in the final of the Budapest Open squash, a USD 43,500 PSA Copper event in the Hungarian capital.
In the semifinals, eighth seed Senthilkumar, ranked 54 in the world, beat third seed compatriot Veer Chotrani 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 1-11, 12-10 to advance to his 15th PSA tour final.
This will be Senthilkumar and Farkas’ third meeting on the tour. The Indian won their face-off in 2024, after the Hungarian triumphed in the 2019 match-up.
– Team Sportstar
Semwal, Nirupama top seeds in Maharashtra State Open Squash
Om Semwal and Nirupama Dubey will be the top seeds in the men’s and women’s categories respectively in the 49th edition of the Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra State Open Squash Tournament.
The competition gets underway in Mumbai on Saturday.
Rahul Baitha is seeded second while Vedant Patel and Ayaan Vaziralli are the joint third-fourth seeds in the men’s event.
In the women’s competition, Akanksha Salunkhe is seeded second while the third-fourth seeds are Aadya Budhia and Rathika Suthanthira Seelan.
– PTI
Published on Aug 28, 2026
